MICHAEL ROSENBERG: The difference-maker: From big to small, Ben guards 'em all

May 8, 2006

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The Cavaliers' LeBron James loses the ball between the Pistons' Tayshaun Prince, left, and Chauncey Billups. James had a team-high four turnovers. (ERIC SEALS/Detroit Free Press)
So who is the biggest difference between the Pistons and the Cavaliers? Is it Tayshaun Prince, who outscored LeBron James on Sunday? Or the entire cast of Pistons shooters, who nailed 15-of-22 three-pointers Sunday? Or Chauncey Billups, who had 14 points and 10 assists?

A case could be made for any of them.

Me, I'll go with the guy who scored two points.

Ben Wallace also had 11 rebounds. And four blocked shots. And a couple of free throws that were not close to ... uh, being near ... the area within range of the rim.

But look at what Wallace did in one stretch: He helped out on a James slash to the basket, stopping a potential lay-up; grabbed a defensive rebound; blocked a Drew Gooden shot; grabbed another defensive rebound; set a pick that opened up Prince for an easy score; drew a charge that the officials didn't call; grabbed an offensive rebound and passed out to Rip Hamilton for a wide-open shot; and then stepped into the lane to stop Donyell Marshall, who was forced to pass out to LeBron ... at which time Ben ran out to the three-point line and got a hand in James' face, which may have caused James to miss the shot.

Time elapsed: less than five minutes.

There is simply nobody else in the NBA like this guy. That's why, for the fourth time in five seasons, Big Ben will be named the defensive player of the year.

"It means a lot," Wallace said. "That's where my pride and joy is at, on the defensive end. That's the reason I'm out there ... not because I can make free throws."

Naturally, Ben's teammates wept with joy at the news.

"They gave that bleep to him again?!?" Rasheed Wallace asked. "That's felonious! Felonious! He wasn't even in my top three!"

Ben walked past, shook his head and said, "With guys like that in your corner ..."

Rasheed was kidding, of course. And in Tuesday night's Game 2, Ben will literally be in Rasheed's corner, double-teaming whenever necessary.

This is what makes Ben Wallace unique: He creates matchup problems playing defense. Think about that. In the NBA, a matchup problem normally means nobody can defend a guy.

But with Wallace, there is nobody he can't defend. When the Cavaliers had their normal starting five on the floor, Ben often guarded 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas. When the Cavs went small, he guarded James, maybe the best wing player in the league.

"That's what it's all about for me," Wallace said. "It doesn't matter who I'm guarding. In different situations, I think I can switch out on anybody, guard anybody for five or six minutes."

He smiled.

"As long as I don't have to guard him for the whole game ..."

Hey, James will still score a bunch in this series. He is the most gifted player in the league. But if you saw him dominate the Washington Wizards in the first round, you noticed something else: Washington's interior defense was a joke. The Wizards couldn't stop Paris Hilton from reading a book.

Cleveland coach Mike Brown can stay up all night watching film, drawing up plays and holding a siance with James Naismith. Unless he convinces Ben Wallace to retire, his team can't win this series.

If the Cavs ask James to be the main ball-handler, as they often did in the Washington series, Wallace can trap him when he crosses half-court. And then, as the rest of the Pistons play their usual lockdown defense, Wallace can scoot back and patrol the lane.

These Pistons are so good, they tend to suck the tension out of a playoff series. You know they will win. But they create a different kind of uncertainty: You don't know how they will win. It creates a fun guessing game: Who will be the star this time?

Well, I'd pick Ben Wallace. The numbers might not show it. But if you made Wallace switch teams with Ilgauskas, Cleveland's second-best player, then the Cavaliers would have a real chance. Wallace would change the entire personality of that team.

He pressures guards. He boxes out centers. He blocks everybody's shots. Defensive Player of the Year? It's almost an understatement. On days like Sunday, Ben Wallace looks like the two best defensive players in the league.

Give me a break. Go back and look at any tape before they got Rasheed, when Ben played man up on the opponents best post player, he got schooled regularly, especially with superstars like Duncan and Shaq.

Here's something the pistons fans and voters should take note of.
Bruce Bowen shuts down allstars during the playoffs, he will take players out of thier game and make them shoot horrible shots. He will do this while actually playing defense on that player, moving his feet and staying in front of his man. He did it last year to players like Marion and Hamilton, and he will do it again this year.

Ben isn't the best perimeter defender on his team, Prince is.
Ben isn't the best post defender on his team, Rasheed is.

What I will give Ben credit for is this.
Ben is the best off the ball defender in the game, but as far as him being able to defend anyone, how could you possibly know that since he never ever is responsible for playing Defense on the opponents best players, and when he used to (before Rasheed) he would get his azz handed to him by the top tier players. He plays against the scrubs and gets to roam around on D, and while he will block shots and grab rebounds, he will never shut one player down becuase he's never really guarding any ONE player.

Ben can keep getting this award which is losing it credibility, while Duncan and Bowen (both of whom should have at least 1 DPOY award each) can continue to collect rings.

I mean if the local Detroit paper didn't publish an article about how great the Pistons are who would? I'd love to have a paper from another town or the fans of another team actually kiss my ass all day. With only one championship, they're bigger one hit wonders than Tommy Tutone. Also, the Cavs are pushovers. Seriously, looking at their regular season games against the best teams they only beat Dallas and Detroit on off nights/days for the other team. It's like saying that you'd expect a 2nd grader to put up a decent fight against a 7th grader. No one does.

DPOY trophy is meaningless anyway. The award is given by the media before the season begins. They don't like the Spurs or Bruce Bowen. They have been praying for our demise. They talked like we were a lottery team. The media is a bunch of morons. How can you make Steve Nash a two-time MVP like Duncan or Bird or Jordan? Can anyone honestly say that Steve Nash had as good a season as any of those guys? The awards mean nothing. The only award that means anything is the championship trophy and last I checked, it was in our backyard. Let them have the garbage awards, we just want to retain what is rightfully ours.